Pacific Crest Trail – Day 54 (13 miles)

I woke at my normal time at 5 am. This time however it was not to birds chirping as I was indoors at a cabin beside Echo Lake. I got dressed quickly and quietly to avoid waking the guys on holiday who invited me to stay.

I walked to the car park and realised getting into South Lake Tahoe won’t be easy. Who would be up and driving at 5 am, especially when they are on holiday?

I began walking the 1 mile to the highway I passed yesterday. This time I took the road, hoping that someone would drive past.

They did not. So I tried to hitch on a 60mi/hr (100km) road. It was not easy as I watched cars fly by. But eventually, I got a lift!
Time to do some chores.

First was the supermarket for the 103 mile (165 km) section to Sierra City and some food for breakfast.

I then headed to the Big 5 to replace my shorts that were destroyed through the Sierras. And next to KMart to replace a wall charger that got wet.

Next was a 3 miles bus ride to pick up a package I sent to myself before the Sierras with my normal gear, smaller headlamp, lighter tracking poles etc.

The last few days my inflatable pad has been deflating overnight. I decided to give just the 1/8 inch half length foam pad another go, so I posted the inflatable home to repair after the trail.
I went to a Chinese Buffet. I have never eaten so much in my life. After 2 hours of eating, I felt sick.

With everything done and my belly overflowing I went outside to hitch back to the trail. As a polar opposite to this morning, the second car picked me up. It was a nice lady and we walked straight past where I wanted to go.
Turning around, we arrived at the right spot and I began up the trail.
Walking around Echo Lake on a trail blast into the side of a cliff was fun.

I then climbed up to Aloha Lake. The trail was covered in snow but the millions of footprints from day one overnight hikers made navigation null and void.

Aloha turned out to be half frozen still. It’s mid-July! This, however, and the 100s of tiny granite islands poking out made it truly special. It’s probably my favorite lake this trip.

I also got to walk next to it for a couple of miles, but eventually, I had to turn away and head down to a few other lakes.

The first of which rivaled the beauty of Aloha.
I then had to decide if I would push on to Dick’s Pass or have a shorter day than planned and camp at the bottom. I chose to push on.
Approaching the top, I faced two problems. The first was that the ground was very rocky and I just got rid of my inflatable. And that the pass had a strong icy wind blowing.
I solved both of these by setting up camp underneath an overgrown cedar tree.
I rolled over and went to sleep.
It was not a solid sleep as throughout the night either a mouse or a chipmunk kept trying to eat my food. I eventually used my food bag as a pillow, but the little critter even tried to gain access when it was literally right under my nose.